Field Guide to Maryland's Turtles (Order Testudines)
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Eastern Painted Turtle | Family: Box and Water Turtles (Family Emydidae) | Common Name: | Scientific Name: |

Photo of Eastern Painted Turtle courtesy of Corey Wickliffe | Size: 4½ - 6 inches. Record - 7⅛ inches | Appearance:The Midland Painted and the Eastern Painted are two subspecies of Painted
Turtle. They share a similar appearance.
- The smooth and flattened carapace
is olive to black with a border of red crescents or bars.
- The large scutes
of the carapace are in nearly straight rows, with the light olive bands
crossing the back and are good diagnostic features.
- Two bright yellow spots are on
either side of the head, which also has yellow stripes through the eyes and
along the jawline.
- The upper jaw has a central notch bordered by two
tooth-like cusps (but see Red-bellied Turtle).

Photo of Eastern Painted Turtle courtesy of Corey Wickliffe
| Habitats:Slow-moving shallow water habitats with muddy bottoms and aquatic
vegetation, including ponds, marshes, lakes, river pools and ditches. It can
be found in both fresh and brackish water.
| How to Find:The most conspicuous basking turtle we have, they can be active in any
month, but typically observed basking April to September. Observe them
through binoculars on fallen logs and debris along shorelines, typically in
early morning, midday and early afternoon. Also, find them on land nesting
in loose soil from late May to early July.
| Distribution in Maryland:Painted turtles are found throughout Maryland. Eastern Painted Turtles
will be found in the southern and eastern counties and may breed with
Midland Painteds where they overlap in Central Maryland.
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